Allen Community College found some success on the diamond this weekend, courtesy of some sterling pitching, timely hitting and a nail-biting finish.
The Red Devils, trying to complete a four-game sweep of visiting Hesston, were leading 6-4 in the top of the seventh and final innings, but the Larks had loaded the bases with nobody out.
Allen relief pitcher Sean Gomez Jr. — who already had a memorable weekend at the plate — struck out back-to-back batters, the second on a 3-2 pitch to Lark left fielder Eric Stanley. (It was the ninth pitch of the at bat.)
With two outs, Hesston’s Torryn Henshaw smacked a ground ball to deep short. Allen shortstop Josh Prinner was able to reach the ball, but knew immediately he had no play at first, as the Larks scored a run to make it 6-5.
But the Hesston baserunner on second, in his aggressiveness, rounded too far after reaching third, allowing Prinner to dive behind him and make the tag for the final out.
Was this an unprecedented ending in head coach Clint Stoy’s coaching career?
“Absolutely,” Stoy said.
The four-game sweep, a pair of wins on both Saturday and Sunday, lifts the Red Devils to 6-3 on the season, following an extended layoff. Allen had last taken the field on Feb. 9.
“Our entire pitching staff got to pitch on the weekend,” Stoy said, noting Allen used seven pitchers — one for each inning — in Sunday’s finale.
“Collectively, when you pitch that many guys, and have that much success, it’s gonna be a good weekend,” Stoy said.
Gomez, a freshman out of Topeka, did much of the damage for ACC offensively, going a collective 7 of 14 during the four-game set, with five runs, seven hits and nine RBIs.
“He’s a big reason why we had success this weekend,” Stoy said.
It was Gomez who kickstarted the rally with an RBI double in the bottom of the first to drive in Roangeraud Fraai. He then came around to score on Nate Bach’s two-run blast.
Josh Prinner later drove in both Gomez and Bach with a two-run single in the third to make it 5-1.
Hesston rallied to make it 5-4 before Bach drove in the final run with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.
Logan MacNiel, Jackson Rains, Kade Douglas, Luke Carter, Patrick Babcock, Caleb Peterson and Gomez combined to allow six hits with 12 strikeouts over seven innings.
